Exploring the Environmental Impact of Information and Communication Technologies, Population, Economic Growth, and Energy Consumption in MENA Countries

This study examined the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) and the subcomponents of mobile, internet, and fixed telephone use on carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂E) using a panel of 17 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries from 1995 to 2016 while controlling for economic growth, population, and energy consumption. Additionally, the study examined the country-specific impacts of ICT and its subcomponents on CO₂E. Finally, the study forecasted and proposed the CO₂E mitigation pathways for the studied countries. By employing the panel autoregressive distributed lag (PARDL) model, the findings indicated that ICT and its subcomponents increase CO₂E in the long run, while in the short run, only ICT reduces CO₂E. Specifically, a 1% expansion in ICT, mobile, internet, and fixed telephone use increases CO₂E by 0.015%, 0.006%, 0.014%, and 0.061%, respectively, in the long run. Additionally, the findings showed that countries with high levels of CO₂E, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, have the highest environmental deterioration effect of ICTs, while countries with low levels of CO₂E, such as Lebanon and Malta, have the lowest effect. Finally, the CO₂E for the studied countries demonstrated an upward trend; however, by maximizing sustainable ICT use, sustainable economic growth, and clean energy use via upgrading ICT infrastructure, granting tax incentives and subsidies, and feed-in-tariffs, CO₂E for the studied countries will witness a significant decline by 2050.